Thirteen Steps
by SuperBlueGirl12
Summary: What happens when a night of rehresal turnes into Santana's worst nigthmare? Warning: Contains ghosts and decripions of disturbing images, not suitable for all.


**1**

'So why are we here?' Santana asked, sitting at the back of the room folding her arms over her chest.

'Yeah, it's Friday, no way can the Puckasaurus be seen in school after hours.'

'Relax Puck,' Finn said. 'We had an idea.' He looked at Rachel, who stood up next to him.

'We thought that it might be a nice bonding experience, to stay here over night and really practice our songs for nationals.'

'Wait, so we're here all night?' Quinn asked.

'Yes.' Rachel responded.

'What if we want to leave?' Brittany asked.

'Well, we knew bonding would be hard for some of you,' she looked at Puck and Santana, 'so we asked the janitor to lock us in. But if we need to we can call him and get out' she smiled, looking pleased with herself. But she was met with a series of groans and sighs. 'Come on guys,' Finn said, 'I think we need this. We should feel like a team and at the moment, I don't feel it.'

'Me neither,' Tina agreed, along with Mike and Artie.

'Yeah, why not. This might be good for us.' Sam said.

'Okay great, well we have food so don't worry about that, and I think the mattresses we got for doing that commercial are in the store room so we have beds.'

'Great,' Santana said sarcastically, and Rachel chose to ignore it.

'So, lets practice.' Finn was very enthusiastic, and they went through their renditions of Don't stop believing and I've had the time of my life. 'That was awesome guys! Time for a break.' Rachel said, pulling a picnic basket out from under the piano.

They were all sitting in a circle, eating the vegetarian treats that Rachel had packed for them. 'What the hell Berry, this is gross.' Puck said.

'Yeah, I don't even think this is food.' Mercedes pointed out.

'Calm down,' Finn said, 'I thought this might happen when I left Rachel in charge of food. I have a basket too.' He picked it up from behind the drum kit and they all let out a sigh of relief. It was full or chocolate bars and savoury goods. 'Hey,' Kurt said, 'Did you guys hear the rumour about this place being haunted?'

'What?' Brittany said sounding panicked, shooting up onto her feet. Santana got up with her and calmed her down. 'Brit, it's okay. It's just a stupid rumour, not true.'

'Oh, okay then,' She said, sitting back down, Santana stroking her arm to comfort her. The entire glee club was looking at them. 'What?' Santana looked at them, 'She doesn't like ghosts, she already thinks they steal her things at night.'

'Seriously?' Tina asked.

'They do San,'

'Yeah I know Brit, eat your crisps.' She said, giving them a look to back off.

'Well anyways,' Kurt continued, 'apparently this place was the site of a serious mental home about a hundred years ago.'

'And?' Sam said.

'And, apparently there was a riot. One night some of the prisoners escaped, but the guards had a plan in case that ever happened.'

'What was the plan?' Quinn asked.

'Lockdown. They locked the doors, threw away the key, and then torched the place. Everyone was killed.'

'That's horrible.' Rachel said.

'Yeah, but it's only a story. So what if the school is built in the same place.' Finn said. Just then the lights went out. It was about 8pm so dark enough for this to freak them out. A few gasps came from their lips and there were a few short screams. 'San, I'm scared.' Brittany said, hugging her friends arm.

'It's okay Brit, just a power cut.'

'Shit,' Puck said. 'I'm going to find the fuse box, whose coming?' They all looked at him like he was insane. 'What, I'm not going alone. This wasn't even my damn idea.'

'Calm down you baby, I'll come.' Santana said, trying to pry Brittany from her arm.

'Santana please don't go.' She begged.

'It's fine Brit, we're going to put the lights back on okay.' Brittany reluctantly nodded, and as Santana was on her way out with Puck she whispered to Artie; 'look after her wheels.' He nodded.

**2**

'So, any reason why you wanted to come with me? Hoping for a little private Puck time?' He said as they walked to the janitors closet. 'Don't flatter yourself Mohawk man. I just don't like seeing Brit sacred.'

'Whatever, you know you still have it bad for me.' She laughed it off and they continued to walk.

'Do you think Kurt was right, about this place being haunted?' She asked, causing Puck to laugh.

'Ha, no way. It's just a stupid story.'

'Yeah, maybe.' She looked at her feet as she walked, and then they came to the door for the janitor's closet. 'Nothing here.' Puck said. 'I guess it's in the basement, come on.' He shut the door and they walked across the hall to the basement door. 'Can't I wait here? Basements freak me out.' Santana pleaded.

'Well looks like Brittany's not the only scared one.' Puck said accusingly.

'Hey, I'm not scared.' She protested.

'So prove it, come on.' He said, and then they both made their way to the basement. They found the switch and got the lights back up and running. 'See, wasn't so scary.' He smiled. But as they reached the bottom of the stairs to head back up, what they saw chilled them to their bones. 'Oh my god.' Santana whispered.

'Holy shit,' Was Puck's response. There was a man standing at the top of the stairs. He was wearing a straight jacket, and he had a crooked smile on his face, laughing at them. One of his hands was free and he pointed down at them, at Santana. 'What the hell.' She said, a tear dripping from her face. And then in a flash of movement, he was gone. 'Lets get the fuck out of here Puck.' She said, gritting her teeth. He nodded and they sprinted back to the choir room. At least the lights were on now.

They ran back into the choir room. 'Hey you did it.' Rachel said, but the she saw the look on their faces, and Santana was crying. Brittany ran over to hug her, 'honey, what happened?' She asked, wiping the tears from her face. 'You know Kurt, I really hate it when you're right.' She said.

'What? About what?' He looked puzzled.

'This place dude, it is haunted.' Puck said.

'No way, you actually believe that?' Quinn said, laughing slightly.

'This isn't funny Q, we saw him.' Santana said, as she and Puck sat back down in the circle with everyone.

'Saw who? You're not making sense guys.' Artie said.

'We saw a damn ghost okay.' Puck shouted, getting a mixed reaction from the others.

'He was standing at the top of the basement stairs when we were coming back up. He was wearing a straight jacket, see, nut house.' She looked at Kurt.

'Yeah and then something shit scary happened, he friggin pointed straight at Santana, like he knew her or something.' Puck told them and they all looked at her.

'Why?' Quinn asked.

'How the hell should I know!,' she shouted, 'his damn smile, I cant get it out of my head.' She put her head in her hands as Brittany stroked her hair. 'Wait,' Brittany said. 'Santana, do you remember that book you read to me months ago? The one with the poems, this sounds familiar, doesn't it?'

'Yeah,' Santana said looking up, 'I remember one of them, and it kind of fits what just happened.' She scrunched her brow, 'But it can't be, it was just a stupid poem.'

'What was the poem?' Rachel asked, and Santana began;

'Yesterday, upon the stair,' she looked at Puck, 'I met a man who wasn't there. He wasn't there again today, I wish, I wish he'd go away.' She swallowed, and continued, 'when I came home last night at three, the man was there waiting for me, but when I looked around the hall, I couldn't see him there at all. Last night I saw upon the stair, a little man who wasn't there.' She looked over at Brittany, ' he wasn't there again today, I wish, I wish he'd go away.'

'Well that's creepy.' Mercedes said.

'Yeah, tell me about it.' Santana chuckled.

'Do you remember any more?' Sam asked.

'No, not really, they were all kind of depressing like that though. Wait, I think they have a copy in the library. I'm going to go get it.' She stood up.

'Not alone you're not.' Puck said, also jumping to his feet.

'Come on Puck it's round the corner.' Santana protested.

'Yeah but from what I just saw the ghost has it out for you, bad. I'm not gonna let you risk going alone in case he comes back.' Santana smiled, and nodded.

'I'm coming too.' Brittany said, gripping on to Santana's hand, and she smiled again.

'Great, we'll be back in a second guys.' And with that they left, and literally walked round the corner to the library.

**3**

'Don't you think we should tell someone San?' Brittany whispered as they walked behind Puck.

'No, I don't. It has nothing to do with this.' She said, eyes fixed ahead.

'But what if it does?'

'What are you getting at Brit?' She whispered.

'Just that, after last year, you know after it happened. You said you were seeing things, things like this and I cant help but think the two might be related.'

'It's not the same thing. This guy was not who I saw last year and I don't want to talk about this any more.' She stormed away from her and beat puck into the library, moving right to the poetry section. 'Here it is,' she said after a few minutes of searching. She pulled the dusty book from the top shelf, obviously no one in the school liked poetry much. 'No one's read it in a while.' Puck said.

'Yeah, it's pretty dismal stuff, I only read it once.' Santana said. Just then, they heard a banging noise.

'Shit, what was that?' Puck said quietly. BANG! There it was again.

'San, don't!' Brittany pleaded, but the Latina had already stepped forward. They all reluctantly went with her and peered round the book shelf. They saw nothing. BANG! They jumped, and then they realised it was coming from beneath them. They looked down and were met with another horrific sight. A woman, in the grate below them, she was a ghost. Her head was covered in blood, and her white nurses uniform was dirty and ripped. She was smiling at them too, trying to get their attention. 'Lets move guys!' Puck shouted, as he and the girls fled back to the choir room.

The rest of the glee clubbers were sitting talking when they rushed back in. 'Another ghost?' Artie questioned. 'Yeah, it was a nurse this time.' Puck said, 'under the floor in the grate.'

'I saw it too guys, this is really happening. There are ghosts here.' She said, almost crying.

'Santana?' Quinn said, looking at her friends face. She was reading the book. 'What is it?' Santana just looked at her, and then at Puck and Brittany, and she started to read aloud; 'Making toast by the fireside,Nurse fell in the grate and died.' She looked them in the eyes, 'What makes the matter ten times worse, The toast was burnt along with the nurse.'

'Shit.' Puck said, as Santana slid down the wall behind her.

'What? Guys tell us?' Rachel said.

'All of the poems in this book, are about ghosts. They match up to the things we see.'

'How is that possible?' Finn asked, as Santana flipped through the book. She got to the back where the authors notes were. 'It's possible because it was written just after the school was built.' Puck took the book from her. 'Yeah, guys listen to this, it's what the author wrote; _the place felt exactly the same. We thought the fire was a good thing, killing the criminally insane. We were wrong. This place is just as poisoned, just as tormented. I hope that what I've seen today, nobody else will._'

'So what does that mean?' Tina asked.

'Don't you get it?' Santana stood up and took the book back, waving it in the air. 'He wrote the poems about the stuff he had seen. When he walked our school hallways. He saw the ghosts and he wrote about them, and now, shit. Now we're seeing the same stuff.' She ran her hands through her hair.

'But why, why did that guy point at you?' Quinn asked.

'Santana, tell them.' Brittany said, and Santana just stared at her. 'Tell them or I will.'

'What's going on here Santana?' Finn asked. She ignored him, and turned back to Brittany.

'Did you know that when we read this the first time, I found a poem about me.' She smiled at the blonde.

'Which one?' Brittany asked, and Santana opened the book, and read aloud once more; 'One bright day in the middle of the night. Two dead boys got up to fight.' She looked at Brit, and then around the room. They were all listening contently. 'Back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other. A deaf policemen overheard the noise, and he came and killed those two dead boys.'

'How is that about you?' Mercedes asked, all of them except Brittany slightly confused, which was a first.

'I'm,' She looked at Brittany for encouragement, and she nodded. 'I'm one of the dead boys.'

'What? I'm still very confused here, you're a girl.' Sam said.

'It's figuratively speaking, I represent one of the boys.'

'But why? You're not dead. Are you!' Kurt said.

'No, but I was, once.' She looked down, and Brittany came and grabbed her hand.

'You can tell them you know, they'll understand then.' She smiled.

'Yeah Brit's right, tell us and we can figure this out, like a team.' Rachel smiled.

'Okay, well it was about a year ago. Britts and I were messing around on vacation. Long story short, we were diving at the lake by my grandparents house. When I dove in I hit my head on a rock and I drowned.'

'Oh my god, how are you not dead right now?' Lauren asked.

'Brit, pulled me out and did CPR until the medics came, kept my blood circulating. She saved my life.' She smiled at Brittany, who pulled her into a sideways hug. 'I was in the waiting room when the doctors came out and they told me that she was alive. But that she had died. She was technically, no pulse, stone cold dead for about seven minutes.'

'Shit man.' Puck said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

'Yeah, but the weird part is what happened next. I kept having dreams, nightmares about this boy.'

'The other boy from the poem?' Artie asked.

'Yeah, I know that now, I didn't when it first started. I thought I was insane. Then I found this book and the poem, it seemed to stick with me. We were just two dead boys.' she laughed.

'But why has this started happening again now? I mean you have been at this school all the time, why have they only just taken an interest?' Kurt asked.

'I don't know, but I think they know that I'm dead. Have been since that day.' She chuckled and sat back down again. 'Come on San, we just have to get out of here and everything will be fine.' Brittany smiled at her and she nodded. And then a look of terror shot through her face. 'Santana, you look pale.' Rachel pointed out. She didn't respond. Instead she was fixed on the sight in front of her. 'San?'

'It's him Brit, he's here.'

'Who, the boy from last year?' Santana just nodded, and then they heard the whispering; '_one bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight…'_

'What the hell.' Mercedes said.

'He's back, he's come back for me.' Santana felt the tear fall down her face, as the boy vanished.

'No San, look at me.' Puck said. 'We're going to make sure these mother fuckers leave you alone okay. Okay?' She nodded and Puck picked her up from the floor. 'We gotta go, right now. Finn call the janitor to let us out. 'Erm, here's the thing.' Finn said quietly.

'What, come on man we have to leave.'

'Yeah, I don't think we can.'

'What?' Brittany questioned.

'We kind of lied about telling the janitor. We came in before he locks the doors.'

'So no one knows we're here? And we're locked in?' Artie said angrily, Finn and Rachel shaking their heads.

'Well that's just great. Okay, phones, somebody call someone.' Puck ordered.

'No signal,' Quinn said, as all the others nodded in agreement, none of them had a signal.

'This is bull, we always get signal at school.' Puck shouted.

'It's them.' Santana whispered. 'They don't want us to leave.'

'This is ridiculous, ghosts? I'm not going to believe this until I see one.' Kurt said, 'It was just a story designed to scare kids.'

'It's real, Kurt, the three of us have seen them and I don't want anyone else to.' Santana said.

'Yeah man, they were sick, especially that first one.' Puck agreed.

'Well I want to see one. I'm going to look around. Anyone coming?' Kurt stood up, as did Quinn and Rachel. 'Maybe we can find another way out.' She reasoned.

'Fine, but I'm coming too.' Santana said, wiping her face and walking over to them. 'Are you sure you want to do this?' She said, but they all nodded. 'We'll be back soon.' She said to the others.

**4**

They were walking left, that's the way they went, not sure really what to head for. Until Quinn suggested; 'Why don't we check the gym, there's a back door.'

'Sounds like a plan.' Kurt concurred and the others nodded. As they were walking Quinn decided to speak to Santana. 'How come you didn't tell me San? You died for Christ sake!'

'I don't know Q, you were busy with your own stuff you know, getting pregnant.' She chuckled. 'I didn't want to worry you. I mean yeah I died, but I made it. So I didn't think people needed to know.'

'Even so, I'm still your friend, you could have had someone apart from Brit to talk to. I know she doesn't understand sometimes.'

'Yeah, it took lots of explaining.' She took Quinn's hand. 'I was just so confused and scared I didn't know if I was insane, seeing that boy. Now I know I wasn't.'

'Is that why B doesn't like ghosts? Because you told her about yours?'

'Yeah, she didn't like seeing what the 'so called' ghost was doing to me, freaked her out, which I guess was my fault.'

'No way, she's your friend and she helped you, besides she was afraid of my goldfish because they were all identical. She didn't think you could get goldfish triplets.' They smiled at each other, when they heard;

'Holy cow!' It was Kurt, he and Rachel had stopped in their tracks. 'Do you see that?' All the girls nodded. In front of them was a boy, he had a face like an animal, nose screwed up and pointy ears. No wonder he was in the nut house, they thought. And he was scratching at his chest, ripping it with his fingernails, staring at them and snarling. 'Seriously this is not happening.' Rachel said. As the boy began to rip his own chest open, blood spilling to the floor. They were all frozen at that moment, when he pulled out his own intestines and started to shriek ferociously, and then they started to run. They made it to the gym and slammed the doors shut behind them. 'What the fuck Santana? What was that?' Kurt said.

'I told you.' She said, emotionless. And then she read form the book again; 'Here's the little piggy, see his snout. Slit him open, and guts fall out.' She shut the book.

'Jesus, this is real.' Quinn said, looking paler than she usually does.

'Wait, is that the boy you saw before?' Rachel asked Santana.

'No he was different. I saw the boy a year ago so all I can think is that he died at the lake to. That's why he's latched on to me.'

'Makes sense.' Kurt agreed.

'So now can we please focus on getting out of here?' Santana pleaded.

'Yeah of course, lets check the gym door.' Quinn said, taking her by the hand.

'Locked.' Quinn said, as she and Santana walked back over to Rachel and Kurt.

'Great, now what?' Rachel said.

'We should go back. Re group and figure it out then.' Kurt said, and they all nodded.

'Wait,' Rachel said, pulling Kurt's sleeve. 'Do you hear that?' It was snoring, people sleeping.

'Yeah, where is it coming from?' Quinn said, as they walked around the gym.

'It's louder over here,' Santana called from next to the equipment room.

'No way are we opening that.' Kurt said. 'Something's in there.'

'Yeah definitely, lets just go,' Quinn said. But before they could move, the door blew open. The snoring got louder and they saw two people, dead people, lying on top of the stack of gym mats. Their eyes were stunned open, mouths in twisted screams. Their throats were slit and they were both wearing orange straight jackets. 'Holy hell!' Rachel shouted as they all booked it towards the door. They reached the choir room moments later and were all panting heavily. 'You saw a ghost then?' Puck said.

'Three, actually.' Kurt said, sitting down by Mercedes. 'What poem goes with the last two Santana?'

'Let me see.' She said, flipping through the book. It wasn't a very large book thankfully so she could find things quickly. 'Here we go; McKinney is dead and McCormick don't know it, McCormick is dead and McKinney don't know it, They both are dead and lying in bed, And neither one knows that the other one's dead.'

'Man, this is so fucked up.' Sam said. 'Did you find a way out?'

'No, the gym door was locked, and then we saw those two ghosts and just made a run for it.'

'Coward.' Finn said.

'Yeah I'm a coward, you haven't left this room since we got into this mess. Which was your fault by the way.' Kurt spat back.

'Hey look, I'm sorry, how was I supposed to know that Santana's ass was haunted?'

'Watch it Finn.' Brittany said.

'No, Brit he's right, this is my fault, I'm sorry I dragged you guys into it.'

'No, It's not your fault, please don't think that.' Brittany held her hand and smiled.

'Look, we're not playing the blame game so lets just try and find a way out.' Mike said, and they all agreed.

**5**

They sat around for a while, thinking of and mapping out all of the other entrances to the school. They would check each one until they found a way out. 'Hey Santana, I've been thinking.' Sam said.

'About what?'

'This ghost who seems to be attached to you.'

'What about him?' She said, stopping reading the book and focusing on Sam.

'It's just I saw this program on TV once about ghosts. I remember it saying about how if a ghost sees an empty vessel, so person, it will try to take it over and become living again.'

'Do you think that's what happened to Santana?' Brittany asked.

'Well it makes sense doesn't it. You died. Your physical body was empty and he missed his chance to dive in. And now he has attached himself to you and followed you around, in the hope that you might croak again.'

'Yeah, that sounds about right.' She laughed, 'And now he's found me here, all of the other ghosts have caught on.' She looked like a light bulb had just been turned on in her head.

'And they are all going to try their had at living again. If they think your sprit to body attachment is already weaker than an average person, they will try to force you out.' Kurt said, looking at Santana.

'So, they all want to kill me, basically.' She said.

'Yeah, but I don't think they can.' Sam said.

'How come?' Santana looked confused now.

'Well I think they have to build up energy or something, they need to be able to take you over, not kill you.'

'And if they destroy your body they will have nothing to take over.' Artie said.

'Great, that's just peachy.' Santana said, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall.

'Hey, don't worry, we wont let them get you. We'll find a way out.' Mercedes assured her.

'Yeah but what about after that? I mean they will all still be here tomorrow, I wont be able to come back in here after tonight. And what about that fucking boy? He'll probably be with me until I do die.'

'Then we will just have to convince them to leave.' Lauren said, and they all looked at her.

'How do you mean?' Santana questioned.

'We need them to see that you aren't going to die, maybe if you can talk to the boy ghost you can convince him that you're going to be alive for a long while and that he's just wasting his time. Then the others might catch on to this too and go looking else where.'

'That kind of makes sense.' Santana said, smiling.

'Woah, we don't even know where to find him and what about when we do? How do we know he will listen?' Brittany asked.

'It's the only option I have Brit, I have to try.'

'Okay, but I still think we should search for a way out.' She said and Santana agreed.

'So, we should split up, two groups. Me, Brit, Puck, Rachel, Quinn and Kurt will go left out of here and the rest of you go right. We will meet back here in an hour, no excuses, and we can see what we find. Okay.'

'Yeah,' Finn agreed, 'But what if we see a ghost?'

'I don't think you will Finn, they want me. That's why I picked the guys who have already seen them, so they're already prepared.'

'Okay, lets go then.' Puck said, and they left in their separate directions.

**6**

They had been walking for a few minutes when they heard another sound. 'Crap, not again.' Kurt whispered. 'Where is it coming from?' They walked throughout the halls and heard laughter. It was a single person, probably a woman, and it was getting louder and louder. They were at the door to the art room when they saw her. An old woman was sitting behind one of the benches, and on the table in front of her were several china dolls. 'What the…' Quinn started, before Santana put her hand up to quiet her.

'Shut up, everyone. Not a sound.' She said, as the old woman looked up at them, jagged teeth and red eyes. 'Santana what?' Rachel said.

'Shhh! Be quiet, I will explain in a minute.' She seemed angry now, and the old woman had got up from her table. She was short, no more that five foot, but that made it all the more creepy. She looked Santana up and down and wagged her decaying finger at her. Then there was that smile, the same smile that they all have, looking at her right in the eyes. '_you….._' she whispered. And this was the first time they had heard one speak. She was nearly in reaching distance of them now, but they had been silent for a few minutes and she began to disappear. '_I'll be back….._' she said, as she vanished into the air. Santana let out a sigh of relief, and they all noticed her hand shaking as she clutched onto the book. 'What was that Santana?' Rachel asked, very scared herself. 'I recognised her from one of the poems I read earlier.' She informed them, and then read the poem; 'Beware the stare of Mary Shaw, she had no children, only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams, make sure you never ever scream. Or she'll rip your tongue out at the seam. And if you see her remember this,' she looked at them and finished the poem, 'the only thing that can stop her is, dead silence.'

'That's why you told us to be quiet.' Puck said, and Santana nodded.

'I think these poems give clues to how to stop them, or at least how to avoid them. I just want to find this boy and talk to him.'

'We will honey, lets carry on.' Brittany said, taking her by the hand. 'You're freezing San.' She said looking concerned. 'Yeah, I know, I have been for a while, I…' she looked ahead.

'San?' Her world was going dizzy, spinning around her.

'I…Brit….' Was the last thing she said before she collapsed to the floor.

'Santana!' Quinn shouted, as Puck caught her before she hit the ground. Her vision was fading, she was seeing the world as a blur. But the one thing she saw as bright as day, was the boy. He was coming towards her, putting his hands on her, trying to get inside. She screamed.

A while later, Santana was lying unconscious on Brittany's lap. The scream was the last thing they had heard out of her. Brittany was stroking her hair when Quinn sat down beside them. 'She'll be alright B, it's Santana after all.'

'I know, I just wish I could help her.'

'Me to B, me to.' Quinn put her hand on the girls shoulder, and then Santana started to move. 'Santana?'

'San?' Brittany said, as the small Latina started to convulse violently. 'Oh god. Quinn what's happening?'

'I don't know, Puck, give me your hoodie, we need to make sure she doesn't hurt her head.' He took it off immediately, and Quinn put it under Santana's head as they laid her on the floor. She opened her eyes and they were a dark red, they weren't her eyes any more. 'What the hell?' Kurt said, as they all knelt down beside her. 'It's him, it has to be. He's trying to take her Q.' Brittany was sobbing now.

'Well it wont work, Santana? S, if you can hear me you have to fight this. SANTANA!' She shouted, and then she shot upwards. They all slid backwards and listened. Santana was speaking, but it wasn't her voice. It was deep, a boy's voice; '_one bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight…one bright day…..two dead boys…..one bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight…..' _He repeated this for a few moments and then her body fell back to the ground, the hoodie was the only thing saving her from a nasty headache. But within seconds she shot back up again, gasping, and this time it was Santana. They saw something float away above her, the boy they guessed, and then it faded into the air above them. 'B… Brit, Brittany..' She cried, reaching out to her, and pulling her into a hug.

'Shhhh, hey, I'm right here. It's over, you're safe.' She stroked the back of her head as the Latina's hug was almost a choke hold. 'No, B, it's not over, he… he'll try again I know it.' She was shaking and sweat was covering her. 'Just calm down San, relax okay.'

'Yeah, sorry Brit. I'm so sorry.'

'Hey, don't apologise. You won, you forced him out.'

'Brittany's right S, you were stronger than him, he's gone.' Rachel said.

'Really, like for good?' She questioned, sitting up wiping her face on puck's hoodie. 'Oh, sorry Puck.' She said, handing it back to him. 'You keep it,' He said, smiling at her, 'and yeah, we saw something go poof and it obviously wasn't you. He's gone.'

'Thank God,' she said, smiling and letting herself fall back against Brittany.

'Yeah, now hopefully the others will get the message, that no one fucks with Lopez.' Kurt winked at her.

'Or,' She sat back up, 'maybe they'll all realise that they have a shot. I mean if this kid can get inside me, who knows what a stronger ghost can do?'

'True, but we cant think like that San, you beat him and you can beat all the rest.' Puck said, and then looked at his watch. 'Shit, it's been over an hour. We need to get back to the others.'

'S, you okay?' Quinn asked, as they all stood up.

'Yeah, just a bit tired.' She smiled, and Brittany put her arm around her and they walked back to the choir room.

**7**

'What happened to one hour no excuses?' Sam said, as they saw them walking over to them more than a half hour late. 'Sorry, we ran into some complications.' Puck said, looking at Santana.

'God, is she okay?' Mercedes asked.

'She can hear you, and yeah. Ghost tried to take over my body but apart from that, I'm dandy.'

'Sorry Santana, but you look like shit.'

'Yes, thank you Mercedes, moving on.' Quinn said, looking at her sternly.

'Sorry, so did you find a way out?'

'No, we got a bit side tracked and didn't look much.' Kurt said. 'You guys?'

'Well, we think the windows in the science labs will be easy to take out, all the other doors out are locked.' Mike said, 'What do you guys want to do?'

'Might as well give it a try,' Rachel said, 'we don't have anything else to go with.'

'Did you see any ghosts?' Quinn asked them.

'No, they must really be after Santana, we haven't seen a thing.' Sam said, 'wait, can you hear something?'

'Hear what?' Finn asked.

'Like a growl, but laughing.'

'That makes, no sense.' Lauren said.

'Just listen.' Then they heard it, and they didn't know how to explain it either, but then they heard scraping, like nails along a locker, and then Santana started shaking again. 'Santana?'

'Sorry Brit, I cant help it.'

'Hey, it's okay,' Brittany said, seeing her friend looking so weak.

'What's wrong with her?' Tina asked.

'The ghosts. All we can figure is that the longer we're trapped, the more effect they have on her.' Quinn said, 'can anyone see it yet?' They all shook their heads, but then Finn said;

'Oh my god, I think, I think I see it. Over there.' He pointed, and they all gasped. Well, the people who hadn't seen one before. 'What is it?' Tina asked.

'It's a person, a midget or something, he looks insane so the crazy house was probably the best place for him.' Kurt said, as it was creeping slowly towards them, scraping its fingers along the wall. Then Santana started to talk through chattering teeth; 'Ears of the dagger point, eyes of the fire burn, lips of the ruby blood, the wretched elf comes.' The description was incredibly accurate, although he wasn't an elf, but he continued to stalk towards them. 'Cold of the frozen soul, a mind of the sinister kind, hands of a killer be, the wretched elf comes.'

'Santana you're freaking us out.' Tina said, almost crying.

'Shut up, let her finish.' Puck said, not taking his eyes off of the thing a few meters away from them.

'Skin brighter than white,' Santana continued, 'hair darker than night, teeth as yellow as rotten flesh, the wretched elf comes.' It smiled at her, and was almost near them. They had been backing away but he was gaining on them. They still didn't know weather to run or to wait, but Santana's eyes were locked on it as she recited the final verses of the poem, 'Pain in the heart, loss of the mind, freezing of the lungs, the wretched elf comes. Body gone cold, soul gone to dust, death is to me, as the wretched elf comes.' With the last lines, the small man leapt at her, too fast for her to move. She and Brittany, who was holding her up, were thrown back into the lockers. Brittany fell to the floor with a thump and Puck quickly scooped her up. The thing, however, was pinning Santana to the locker. She couldn't move and they saw four marks appear on her stomach. It ripped through her top and blood began to seep into the material. She screamed and Brittany broke free of Pucks grip and yanked Santana away from the locker. It seemed to work as they could no longer see the ghost, he was gone. But Santana was crying hysterically on the floor in Brittany's arms, who was once again trying to calm her down. 'Shhh, honey it's okay, he's gone.'

'Brit, you saved me.' She choked through her tears, looking up at the blonde.

'And I always will,' she smiled, 'let me see your stomach.' Santana let Brittany look at her, wincing from her touch. The adrenaline was wearing off now so she could fee it, and it stung like a bitch. 'Okay, these are deep,' Brittany said. 'Guys we need to go to the nurses office, get something to put over this.' Brittany said. 'Yeah, and disinfect them.' Quinn said, and she got some strange looks. 'What? It was done by fingers that have been dead for a hundred years, excuse me for wanting to make sure.'

'No, that's a good idea Q,' Santana said, as Brittany and Rachel hauled her to her feet.

'Can you walk?' Rachel asked, looking worried.

'Yeah, it's only a scratch.' She smiled, trying to make light of the situation. The situation that none of them could quite believe. Ghosts was one thing, but now they were hurting someone they cared about. None of it seemed to be plausible and yet it was all happening, here in this school and to them. Some crazy night huh.

**8**

They were walking to the nurses office, Santana holding Quinn's cardigan against her stomach to stop some of the bleeding, when Tina stopped them in their tracks. 'What the hell is that?' She pointed to the door of the English classroom. They saw a girl, no older than ten or eleven, she was hanging from the door. There were nails through the tops of her arms all the way along to her fingers. Blood had stained the front of the door, what once was a fresh blue had been dyed a sickly red. 'Oh my god,' Quinn said looking away, although it hadn't been any worse than anything else they had seen that night. 'Santana?' Finn looked at her, her eyes were fixed on the door, but the others had all turned to face her. 'Little Willy filled with gore, nailed his sister to the door, his mum approached with a voice so faint, stating 'stop that Willy, you'll chip the paint.' They all looked at her, and she said; 'what?'

'This is sick.' Mercedes said, as they looked back to the door. Suddenly a scream cut through all of them. Santana seemed to feel it the worst as she clasped her hands over her ears and fell to her knees. 'San!' Quinn said, running over to her. 'NO, Quinn, no, please don't touch me.' She stopped just before her hands were on her shoulders. 'I'm sorry,' Quinn quickly replied, 'What is it?' No one could see anything, but Santana had already started reciting; 'Don't ever laugh as the hearse goes by, for you may be the next to die. They wrap you up in a big white sheet, from your head down to your feet.'

'Santana, what can you see?' Sam asked, bending down in front of her, but she didn't do anything except keep reciting; 'They put you in a big black box, and cover you up with dirt and rocks. All goes well for about a week, then your coffin starts to leak.'

'Santana, please stop.' Brittany said, tears in her eyes as she watched her best friend.

'I cant Brit; Worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle in your snout, your stomach turns a slimy green and pours out like whipping cream. You spread it on a slice of bread and that's what you eat when your dead.' She gasped and fell back onto the lockers, trying to catch her breath. Brittany and Quinn knelt down beside her, and she put her hand up to her nose. She felt the stick red substance of her own blood. 'Shit.' She said, her eyes refusing to cry this time.

'San, you're bleeding.'

'I know Brit, it's no biggy.'

'No biggy, S what the hell was that?' Quinn demanded. 'We heard the scream and then you went off on one.' 'You, you guys didn't see it?' She looked up worryingly as everyone shook their heads.

'What was it?' Finn asked.

'There were so many. They were carrying a coffin and I looked inside. It was me. I was dead.'

'Hey, look at me.' Brittany said. 'They are fucking with your head okay, just like when it first started, you remember?'

'Yeah.' She nodded.

'So we are going to ignore them, and then they will go away, same as before. Do you understand me?'

'Yeah.' She nodded again, 'thanks Brit, help me up will you.' And as Brittany was hauling the smaller girl to her feet, they thought about how confident she was being, how smart. Which was unusual for Brittany to say the least. Santana must be good for her, and vice versa, they were perfect for each other. 'Lets go then guys. It's only 10pm, we need to find a way out now.' Puck said.

'Holy shit, it's only 10? Feels like we've been here all night.' Santana said.

'Yeah well, it hasn't exactly been a typical night.' Puck said, and Quinn and Santana burst out laughing at the reality of the everything. Santana grabbing her stomach, 'Ow Puck, don't make me laugh.'

**9**

They finally reached the nurses office and Rachel quickly grabbed some bandages and antiseptic wipes. 'Santana come and lay on the table,' She said, and Santana did as she was told, Quinn and Brittany came in with her and everyone else waited out in the hall. 'Ow, ow, ow, shit Berry.'

'I'm sorry, you have to keep still. You'll probably need stitches when we get out. Or I could do them now for you?'

'No way Berry, you're doing enough damage with the wipes, you're not coming near me with a needle.' This made the girls laugh, but their sudden moment of joy was drowned out by a sound that chilled them to their cores. '_so…cold…'_ They didn't know where it was coming from, and then Santana started to see the breath coming out of her. 'Shit, Santana.' Quinn, stepped towards her and touched her cheek. 'You're cold again.'

'Y…..yeah…he….' She couldn't speak any more, she was so damn cold, so she pointed. The followed her finger and they saw him. The boy sitting in the corner. He was hunched over, hands pulling his legs to his chest, and his head was face down. 'Oh,' Rachel said, 'he looks like a student. But he's so pale.'

'Yeah he's dead, might be the reason.' Quinn rolled her eyes.

'I'm just saying.' And then he spoke again.

'_y….you c….can save m….me.' _He got up. His body unravelled like a snake, and he stood above them. He must have been about seven feet tall. Skinny too, like really unhealthy skinny, all his bones seemed to be visible through his skin. Then Santana managed to speak; 'Have you seen the ghost of John? Long white bones and the rest gone, isn't it chilly with no skin on?'

'_So…..c….c…..cold.' _He repeated, his long arm extended towards Santana, who was literally frozen to the spot. Rachel had managed to finish patching her up whilst all of this was going on, and then Puck put his head in the door. 'What's talking so lo….Shit!' He said running into the room. He pulled Quinn and Brittany out, and then Rachel. Finally, he lifted Santana off of the table and sprinted down the hallway. _'NO!…!'_ Was what they heard coming from the now empty classroom and they didn't need to be told to follow him. They all ran as fast as they could, or rolled in Artie's case, and caught up with Puck. He had put Santana down on the floor, and wrapped his body around her. 'Damn Puck, she's blue.' Mike said.

'I know, we need to warm her up. Finn, you have the biggest body, sit on the other side of her.' He did so, and jumped back when he felt how cold her hands were. 'Jesus!'

'Come on Finn man up, she needs you.' Quinn shouted.

'Okay, okay.' He sat back down and held her, cuddling Puck at the same time felt kind of weird but he had to get over it, for Santana's sake. 'There, she's not shaking anymore, Santana?' Puck said.

'Yeah, thanks guys, I'm okay.' She smiled weakly at them.

'You sure?' She nodded, 'What the hell was that?' He asked.

'Oh that, that was just John, we go way back.'

'Not funny, you actually felt like a corpse this time.' Finn said.

'I know, they're getting stronger, they have more power over me, I cant seem to….'

'It's okay San, we're all here.' Brittany said, taking Finns place and giving her a hug.

'_Ring around the rosies_, _A pocketful of posies._ _Ashes, ashes._ _We all fall down'_

'What is that?' Tina asked, as they all put their backs to the lockers, looking down the hall. The singing was getting louder. '_Ring around the rosies_, _A pocketful of posies….'_

'Everybody be quiet,' Santana said, and without hesitation they all stood in silence, listening to the voices grow louder. '_Ashes, ashes. We all fall down… Ring around the rosies_, _A pocketful of posies._ _Ashes, ashes._ _We all fall down.' _Then, from around the corner skipped a group of children, three boys and two girls, hand in hand. Their clothes were covered in dirt, most of them ripped somewhere. Santana could see worms coming out of their ears and mouths, blood dripping from various places. '_Ring around the rosies_, _A pocketful of posies….' _The glee club remained silent, even as Mercedes and Tina were silently crying, watching the children skip past them. '_Ashes, ashes._ _We all fall down….' _The singing faded as they turned another corner, and vanished out of sight.

'Holy hell that was creepy.' Quinn said.

'Yeah, it's like children of the corn or some shit.' Puck referenced.

'How did you know we should be quiet?' Artie asked, looking at Santana.

'Lucky guess,' she chuckled, and Quinn gave her a look. 'Well it worked on the old lady in the art room, I didn't think it would hurt to try again.'

'No, this is good, now we know one way to kind of get away from them.' Rachel said, always the optimist.

'Great, now how about we get to the science room?' Lauren suggested, and they all quickly nodded.

**10**

'Guys?' Rachel said as they were walking through the halls.

'What is it?' Finn asked, 'You okay?'

'Yeah I just, I need to use the ladies room.' She said shyly.

'You have to piss, right now?' Puck said.

'I've actually been holding it for hours and I really need to, please.'

'Come on Puck, we don't want her to wet herself at the sight of another ghost do we.'

'Thank you Santana,' Rachel smiled sarcastically at her. 'But seriously.'

'Oh come on man-hands, I'll go with you.' Santana said, pulling her along. 'Wait here, we'll be back in a second.' The toilets were just off another hallway, in another direction, so there was no point making them all come. 'Okay, in you go, do your business.'

'Wait, you're staying out here?' Rachel said nervously.

'Hell yes, there are ghosts Rachel and I've seen almost every horror movie made. You do not look into mirrors, at any time for any reason. Now just go, hurry up.' She shooed her in and waited, back against the wall. Rachel walked into a stall, carefully avoiding her reflection in the mirror, and did what she needed. She was finished and washing her hands when she couldn't resist. She peeked up and looked into the mirror. And then she screamed. Santana heard this and burst in through the doors. The first thing she saw was the reflection staring back at Rachel. It was a man, or a boy to be more accurate, he only had one eye. There was blood spilling from the hole where his other one should have been and again he had that smile. 'Fucking smile.' Santana whispered, and then she remembered the poem for this ghost. She recited it as she backed Rachel slowly out of the bathroom; 'Little enemy come out and fight with me, bring your bee-bee gun and we'll have so much fun, I'll shoot out your eyes and let you bleed to death.' They ran back to the others, and Quinn just said; 'ghost?' they nodded and that was enough, so they kept walking.

**11**

A few minutes later Puck had an idea. 'How about we cut through the cafeteria? It will take half the time instead of going all the way around.'

'Yeah but we would have to go through the kitchen.' Quinn pointed out.

'So?' Puck was confused.

'So, I think Quinn is worried about all of the sharp implements that could be used against us in there.' Rachel said.

'Yeah I agree with Berry, I really don't want any of you guys to get stabbed because of me.' Santana said, as she and Brittany walked arm in arm in the middle of the pack. 'I'm only saying, it will take half the time, and we have to go past wood shop the other way. Whose to say a ghost doesn't use the nail gut to shoot us?'

'He makes a good point.' Arte agreed.

'Thanks wheels. Lets have a vote then. For the short way, or the stupid way?' He phrased it unfairly, but the kitchen route won. 'Settled then, follow me.' They went towards the kitchen door, and made Puck stick his head in first seeing as it was hiss idea. 'It's all clear, come on.'

'Why are you whispering?' Mercedes asked as she went passed him.

'I dunno, for effect?' he smiled and ushered the rest of them in, and fell into place behind Quinn.

'What is that ungodly smell?' Kurt said, holding his nose.

'It smells like burning,' Finn said, crinkling his nose up.

'Well it is a kitchen Frankenteen, they use fire.' Santana said sarcastically. Then they all jumped and spun around as a loud bang caught their attention. 'Jesus Q, what the hell?' Santana said.

'Sorry guys, my bad.' She had walked into the end of a frying pan and knocked it onto the floor, the lid spilling off in the process. She bent down to pick it up, but what he saw under the lid caused her gag reflex to work overtime, 'Shit.' She cried, falling back from the pan.

'What is it?' Brittany asked, but Quinn just motioned for them to come over and have a look. They walked forward and saw a pair of brown eyes staring back at them. 'Oh for Christ sake, this is getting ridiculous.' Sam said, as he and Mercedes walked away from the spillage. 'Getting? Where have you been trouty?' Santana joked, and then bent down to inspect the eyes. 'Roses are red, violets are blue, brown are your eyes, and I'll feed them to you.'

'That's disgusting,' Tina said, walking over to Mercedes.

'Yeah, come on Q lets go.' Santana said, as the blonde took her hand and stepped over the bodiless eyeballs. 'Sick.' She mumbled as she hopped away from them.

'Wait I can still smell burning.' Finn said, and then he looked to his right. 'Fuck, she's on fire!' He said, almost running over to try and put her out. 'No!' Santana said, grabbing his arm, 'Look at her face.' She had seen them, and was smiling, just like the rest. She was humming to herself as she kicked her feet through the fire. Santana had begun to feel very warm, beads of sweat dripping from her head. 'San, you're burning up,' Rachel said, putting her hand on the Latina's forehead.

'Well, better than freezing to death,' she joked, and then the girl jumped out of the fire and began to daintily walk over to them. This time, Quinn took the book from Santana, afraid it might burst into flames just through her touching it, and read aloud; 'Little Polly Flinders, Sat among the cinders, Warming her pretty little toes. Mother came and caught her, And whipped her pretty daughter_. _For spoiling her nice new clothes.'

'Back off Polly,' Santana said to the girl, but she wasn't going anywhere.

'_You're so warm….like a real person.' _She giggled.

'I am real, you little bitch and you cannot have me.' She looked the girl right in the eye, as she grabbed Santana's right wrist. 'Ah, shit!' She cried in agony as a small handprint was burned into her skin.

'Santana! Kurt yelled, and tried to pull her back. But when he did he flinched and pulled away, she felt like lava, she was burning from the inside out. 'You…. Can't… Have….. Me!' She yelled, and then threw herself through the girl, and landed on the kitchen floor. Everything else had vanished. The girl, the fire, the eyes even. All gone. Santana just closed her eyes and laid down on the cool tiled floor of the kitchen, until her body felt normal again.

**12**

'Well that was a great idea Puck, you nearly got her killed.' Quinn was berating him as they finally got out into the cafeteria. 'Quinn,' Santana said, she was sitting on one of the lunch tables. Thankfully Rachel had thought to bring extra medical supplies. She was gently dabbing at the burn on Santana's arm to stop it from throbbing. She then covered it over with another bandage. 'Thanks Rach.' She smiled, and then jumped down from the table. 'It's not his fault Q. Stop shouting at him.'

'But Santana it was his idea.'

'Yeah and it was going to happen wherever we went. Whichever route we would have chosen. They're everywhere, so it's not his fault.'

'I am sorry Santana.' Puck said, like a wounded puppy.

'Don't worry about it Puckasaurus.' She smiled. 'So, Science room please.'

'I just want to know how many damn ghosts there are in this place.' Mike was saying to Tina.

'A lot I guess, they trapped everyone in, even the nurses apparently.' Tina said.

'Yeah, man this sucks, I wish we could help more you know.'

'Definitely, I hate that Santana has to go through this practically alone.' Just then Tina saw something move out of the corner of her eye. 'Mike,' she said, her voice shaking as she grabbed onto his arm. He looked with her and they saw another girl, almost identical to the one in the kitchen, no it was the same one. 'Guys!' Mike shouted, as they watched her claw her way towards them. 'Guys!' he repeated, and then they were all standing behind the Asians. 'It's on fire again, Santana stay behind me.' Puck said, feeling guilty about the kitchen.

'But,' she began.

'But nothing, stay behind me.' She did, and they saw the girl crawling to them now.

'Alright enough of this shit, everybody run!' Finn shouted. 'NOW!' He hauled a couple of them back and then they all ran for the exit.

'Finn what the hell man.' Puck said as they lent against the lockers to catch their breath.

'I just don't understand why we have to stand there and watch them, why don't we just run away?'

'That's a good question actually?' Artie said, wheeling himself over to Santana. 'Ideas?'

'Well, only one. We don't know how they will react. Like with the old lady and the skipping children, we were quiet and they faded away. But then with others, like the tall boy or Polly, whatever, they didn't go. They all seem to react differently to our movement and noise levels.'

'So what you're saying is, it's a fifty-fifty?' Mike said, leaning next to Mercedes.

'Yeah, exactly.' She shrugged, and just as she lent back herself, the girl came bursting through the cafeteria doors. They all started to run, all of them except Santana. 'S, come on!' Quinn shouted.

'No, you go. I'm staying.' She shouted, without taking her eyes off of the girl, Polly, apparently.

'San!' She heard Brittany cry.

'I'll be fine Brit, Quinn get her out of here, NOW!' She yelled, and Quinn knew better than to argue, so she dragged Brittany by the arm and followed the others round the corner. She stood facing the girl, looking deep into her eyes. 'What do you want from me?' Santana asked it.

'_We want, life.' _She smiled, that horrible crooked smile that she had seen on all of their faces and she was sick of it. 'Well, that's too bad. You're dead! Get over it already!' The ghost charged at her, flinging herself into Santana's body. 'Ah,' Santana cried, resisting the urge to collapse. She held her ground and watched as her muscled convulsed and twisted. She looked at her arms, scratches appearing on her hands, across her already burnt wrist. 'Shit, shit, shit.' She cried, and then the glee club came back from the other hallway. 'San?' Brittany said, and Santana could see she had been crying.

'Y…yeah B.' She tried to smile, but another spasm took over her and she had to look away form the girl she loved. 'Oh god,' Quinn Said, as they all watched their friend in pain.

'I'm okay,' She assured them, but then she let out a horrendous scream, with no choice but to fall to her knees. The next thing she knew fire was all around her. The glee clubbers stepped back in shock as their friend burst into flames. She was on fire, but she wasn't burning. 'H…how is this possible?' Finn said, Rachel clinging onto his arm. 'I have no idea.' She whispered.

'Santana can't you feel that?' Puck asked, as the Latina managed to get back to her feet.

'N…no, I feel cold.' She said, tears falling from her face, the fire having no effect on them. 'I can, can f…..feel her in…inside of me.' She cried, 'she's p….pushing me out.'

'No S, you're stronger than her, fight it! You have to fight it!' Brittany pleaded.

'S…she's too strong.' Santana's head dropped, she was ready to give up.

'No, No, Santana! You cant leave me, I need you! I need you, please!' Brittany was crying uncontrollably, Quinn clutching onto her shirt to stop her from diving on Santana, she though she could put the fire out.

'San! Fight it. If you don't want to do it for yourself, fine, but do it for us, do it for Brittany. We all need you S.' Quinn pleaded. And that was the last straw. Santana put everything she had into getting rid of this ghost. She thrust outwards, and the ghost ripped back out of her. Screaming as she fell to her knees, the fire vanished in a puff of smoke and she was left shaking on the floor, exhausted. 'You….really think…..that little ghost bitch…could take me….' She looked up at them all and smiled.

'San, oh my god, you're such a bitch you know that!' Brittany said, pulling her into a violent hug, closely followed by Quinn. 'I'm sorry.' She whispered into their ears.

'Why did you stay behind, you could have died?' Quinn said, Brittany too busy crying into the Latina's dark hair. 'I just wanted it to be over, I didn't want to put you guys through anything else.'

'Well, like it or not we're here until the end, deal with it.' Puck said. 'And pull anything like that again and I'll just kill you myself, go it?'

'Yeah, and I kind of believe you, so got it.' She smiled, and he hugged her too, after they could pry Brittany off. Her face fell again shortly after Puck loosened his embrace. 'Guys, we need to go.' She said, and they turned around. There was another one, standing at the end of the hall, only this one wasn't smiling. 'I think that little stunt of yours just pissed them off.' Artie said.

'Yeah, and I don't think I have enough strength to do it again so can we go?' Santana pleaded. The man still just stood there, and then he lifted his head back and let out a roar. His neck was exposed, and they could see that it had been slit, only now the blood flowing down his chest. He was wearing a white nurses outfit so he must have been killed by one of the mental patients before it was burned. Santana took the book off of Quinn and read this time; 'slit your neck, slit your neck, slit your neck while your sleeping, slit your neck, slit your neck, slit your neck while your screaming.' He dropped his head again to stare at them, and then he vanished. 'That was easy.' Sam said.

'Yeah too easy, don't you think?' Lauren wondered.

'I agree, come on lets get the hell out of here.' Santana said, tugging Brittany and Puck's arms. They all moved with her and were finally only a few doors away from the science room. 'This idea better work guys.' Quinn said.

'It will, it has to.' Mike said.

'Yeah we noticed that this was the only room where the windows were screwed in so they must have bee replaced at some point.' Finn continued.

'So, all we have to do is unscrew them again and get out.' Mercedes finished.

'Simple.' Kurt joked.

**13**

They walked cautiously into the science room and to their relief it was empty. 'Come on guys,' Finn said, as he, Mike, Sam and Puck started looking at the windows. 'Can you guys look for a screwdriver or something, so we can get these hinges off.' Mike asked, and the rest of them searched the room. 'Hey San, there's one more poem in her, right at the back. Have you seen it yet?'

'No, why what does it say?' Santana sat opposite Quinn on one of the wooden tables and Quinn read aloud so that everyone could hear; 'One in fire, two in blood. Three in storm and four in flood. Five in anger, six in hate. Seven fear, evil eight. Nine in sorrow, ten in pain. Eleven death, twelve life again.' She looked at Santana, who finished it for her; 'Thirteen steps to the dark mans door, wont be turning back no more.' The girls just stared at each other, both knowing what it meant. 'What?' Tina, Mercedes and Kurt had joined them along with Brittany. 'That was scary.'

'I know Brit,' she said, eyes still on Quinn.

'Wait, you guys know what it means don't you?' Kurt asked.

'It means, thirteen ghosts.' Quinn said, and Santana began to recall all of the ghosts they had met tonight.

'One, the man at the top of the stairs. Two, the old woman in the grate. Three, the boy with no insides. Four, the two dead on the mats.'

'Five, the old woman. Six the midget man.' Quinn continued.

'Seven, the girl nailed to the door. Eight, the coffin scene only I could see.' Santana said, looking at them. 'Nine, the tall ghost in the nurses office.'

'Ten, the skipping children.' Kurt added, and Santana nodded.

'Eleven, the man in the mirror,' Rachel said, coming to join the group.

'Twelve, fucking Polly,' Santana spat.

'Thirteen, the nurse with the slashed throat.' Quinn finished.

'That's thirteen, thirteen steps to the dark man's door.' Santana said, swallowing hard.

'Wait, who is the dark man?' Kurt asked. Just then Santana heard something.

'Do you guys hear that?'

'_Santana…..'_

'Hear what?' Quinn said, but Santana had already got off of the table and was walking back to the door they came through. 'S?'

'How are those windows coming guys?' She said nervously.

'They're not at the moment, why?' Sam looked at her, her face was drained.

'Because you might want to hurry it up.' She swallowed again as she was joined at the door, the kids mouths falling open. 'They're all here, thirteen steps.'

'And he's the dark man.' Santana pointed at the man, well boy, leading the group.

'The boy from the lake? From last year? I thought you got rid of him?' Brittany said, as she pulled Santana back into the room.

'Apparently not,' she said, as Quinn closed the door an barricaded it with the help of Kurt. Then they heard him. _'Santana….Santana…..' _

'Fuck you!' she shouted.

'_You really think a chair will stop me….?' _He whispered as the chair was thrown across the room.

'Hurry up on those windows guys.' Quinn shouted.

'_You really think a table will stop me…..?' _And again, the table was pushed back and then the door swung open. The boy was standing there all alone, his followers seemed to have vanished. 'Where did all your minions go?' Santana asked.

'_Don't need them anymore.' _He whispered. His voice was chilling, softer than it should have been, but still menacing. 'Why?' Quinn asked.

'_Served their purpose.' _

'Which was?' Rachel asked, hoping that they could keep him talking long enough for the guys to get the windows open. _'To break you.'_ He looked at Santana.

'Yeah well, sorry to disappoint, but I'm still standing.' She smiled, and he smiled back.

'_Yes, I was, most impressed, but it wont save you. Thirteen steps to the dark man's door, wont be turning back no more. This is the end of the line Santana.' He hissed._

'Sorry, I play by my rules, not yours. And thirteen steps? What the hell is that crap?'

'_Thirteen steps, thirteen ghosts, thirteen ways of breaking you down without you knowing it.'_

'You wish man, no way are we letting you have her. Why her anyway? You've waited around for a whole year, surely you could have picked someone else.' Brittany asked, gripping Santana's arm.

'_Simple really. She survived. She was dead and then she wasn't. Her body refused to stop working even after crossing over, and it pulled her back. That's why her, I want her body, because it will make me even stronger than I am now.'_

'You're dead, why don't you move on?' Artie asked.

'_Now, where is the fun in that? And think of all the fun I could have if I looked like her.' _He looked her up and down, causing Brittany to glare at him. _'Sorry, I forgot that you're in love with her, we could share?' _He laughed. 'Go to hell!' Brittany shouted.

'_Been there, didn't care for it. So Santana what do you say, easy way? Or do I have to come over there and get you?' _Santana stood her ground, with her friends at her back she felt invincible. She fought off one, she could do it again. He chuckled, _'oh good, I love the hard way.' _And with that, he flashed in front of her, and before they could react he had thrown her out the door and into the lockers in the hall, her body thumping onto the floor in the hallway. 'Santana!' Quinn cried, but before they could make it out of the room and reach her, the door slammed shut, locking them in. 'No! Fuck! Santana!' Brittany screamed pounding on the door, as she saw the boy walk over to Santana, lying helpless and injured on the floor.

'Damn it!' Puck shouted, as he jumped down from the side and slammed into the door. Quinn pulling Brittany out of the way quickly to stop her being caught in the middle. 'Leave her alone you fuck!' He yelled through the door, the boy just smiling and waving at him. 'Little prick!' Puck said, kicking the door.

'Hey, we've got it off,' Finn yelled, setting the window down on one of the tables.

'No, we're not going without her!' Brittany yelled.

'I know B, Finn take everyone else and get help okay, Puck., Brit and I have to stay, we have to help her.'

'Okay Quinn, you got it. Sam help me with Artie first.'

'Quinn, what do we do?' Brittany asked through her tears.

'It's, it's locked from the outside, Santana has to open it, unless we can take it down.' She thought, as Puck ran over to get the screwdriver. As he started to take the first of many screws out of the door, Brittany and Quinn tried to get Santana's attention. 'San!' Brittany shouted.

'S you have to get up okay, please get up!' Quinn yelled, and Santana gingerly lifted her head from the floor. But as she did, she was met with a kick to the face. Brittany screamed as blood flew from her mouth and she was left coughing up blood, trying to crawl away from him. 'You bastard! Leave her alone!' Quinn yelled. Santana thought that this must be one powerful ghost if he could make himself corporeal enough to physically make contact with her. '_I have waited a year for this.' _He said, as he bent down and picked her up. He was so strong. He held her against the lockers, her feet off of the ground. 'Yeah, and you're going to have to wait a hell of a lot longer because you cannot have me!' She yelled, and then he shot into her.

'Puck come on!' Quinn shouted.

'I got it, I got it,' he said, 'get back.' He lifted the door off its hinges and threw in down, Quinn and Brittany running to Santana, who was lying motionless on the floor. 'San honey, please wake up, please.' Brittany said, lifting Santana onto her lap, hugging her tight.

'Brit…' she said, eyes opening.

'Oh, hey, are you alright?' Brittany asked.

'No, no, no, no you have to get away from me! All of you, go!' She shouted, pushing away from Brittany, huddling up against the lockers, staring at her hands. 'Santana what's wrong?' Puck asked.

'He's in me, he's trying to get me out, he…'

'_Wants to kill you all….' _Her voice changed and they all stepped back, watching her.

'No, no, guys, please run, get out.' She cried.

'No S, we're not leaving you.' Quinn said, tears in her eyes.

'You have to….he's…..he's winning.' she said, crying herself now, and then they saw her eyes.

'Oh god,' Quinn whispered. Her eyes had turned a deep shade of red, like they were filled with blood.

'San, fight him come on.' Quinn pleaded.

'_Hahanah…' _the laugh cut through them all, and their hearts sank, '_Santana's not here anymore. But Billy wants to play.' _He grinned at them through Santana's face. It was so strange, it was her, but not. She was gone. 'No! Santana you're in there, I know it. Come back to us.' Quinn said, as Billy moved towards them.

'Yeah come on San, Kick this guy's ass.' Puck shouted.

'_Sorry not going to work. Whose first then? One of the blondes or the dumb ass with the Mohawk? eenie meenie miny moe.' _He laughed again.

'Santana. Make him stop this!' Quinn said, backing up until she hit the lockers.

'Please, baby, I….I love you, come back to me!' Brittany said, tears filling her eyes again.

'What?' It was Santana's voice, Santana's eyes, she took a step backwards.

'Oh my god S! you are still there, please fight him!' Quinn said, 'Brit keep talking to her.'

'San, San I love you, please come back to me!'

'Brit,' Santana smiled, and it was Santana's smile, Brittany knew it so well, but then it all went dark as Santana was thrown backwards and into the lockers again. 'Santana!' Brittany shouted, but as she went to help her, the red eyes had returned. 'No,' Brittany whispered, stepping back.

'_How is she doing this?'_ He spat, '_how is she this strong?' _

'Because she's my girl and no one can take her, because we all love her so much, because I would die if I couldn't have her near me every day, and she knows what. She's strong for me. Santana I'm so in love with you it's not fair so you have to be here with me. PLEASE!' Brittany cried. And just like that, the ghost shot out of Santana and hovered above her body as she fell to the floor. '_Noooooo!' _He cried, as his spirit was taken away, forever.

They ran to Santana's side, Brittany kneeling next to her. 'San, San wake up.' She said, shaking her girl's shoulders. 'San I love you so much, please wake up.' Her tears dripping onto the floor. Puck and Quinn were hugging each other, also crying, standing beside the two girls. 'Santana…' Brittany cried, and put her head on Santana's chest. 'So,' she heard from beneath her. Santana coughed; 'that love always prevails crap is true huh?' she smiled up at Brittany.

'Apparently it is.' She agreed, laughing as she pulled Santana up into a deep kiss.

'You won San, you kicked his ass.' Brittany said, pulling away from the kiss.

'Yeah,' Santana croaked, 'but you helped.' She smiled up as Quinn and Puck looked down at her laughing.

'I told you, I'll always save you.' And she lifted Santana to her feet, and helped her walk out of the school to meet their fellow glee clubbers. 'And there's no way I'm going back into that school.' Santana said.

'But we have glee on Monday, don't want to miss that.'

'No we do not, we do have one hell of a story to tell Mr Schu after all.' She said, and they all laughed. Much needed laughter, they all thought.

One bright day in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. Figuratively speaking.

The end.

_._


End file.
